Great Santini

Just finished watching this film starring Robert Duvall. Great actor, like him most in Secondhand Lions, a more recent (comparatively) work. In this movie he plays the role of W.P. Mitchium, "The Great Santini", a legendary marine fighter pilot who brings his military bearing into his home life. The beginning of the movie holds promise, Santini is a great prankster, pulling two stunts within the first ten minutes of the story. In his first, he crashes an officer only party of some sophistication by acting extremely inebriated. As Mitchium stumbles to center stage, he doubles over and strategically empties a can of cream of mushroom soup upon the stage. He then calls his fellow pilots to come over to his "vomit" armed with spoons to clean it up. This results in the officers' wives making a quick exit of the room to avoid the disgusting spectacle.

Mitchium's home life is more painful to watch. He is determined to shape his gentle mannered oldest son, Ben, into a better marine pilot than even the "Great Santini". His oldest daughter, Maryann, is a smart mouth who sarcastically back talks the rest of her family. His wife is long suffering to her odd and over the top husband. Colonel Mitchium is a ham, telling all who will listen of his greatness. He tries to treat his family the same way he treats his fellow marines - instilling order, discipline, and a fury to desire and settle for only the best life has to offer.
This could have been a great movie and could see its premise being used today for a comedy: Clueless Military dad comes home to a totally unrelatable family. The movie's plot points concerning his attempts at bridge building failing until his family shows him the ropes step-by-step. Instead, the producer and director aimed to make W.P. Mitchium into a character who would run into brick walls until they killed him or he broke through. It would have been an uplifting film if they allowed Robert Duvall to have an opportunity at redemption, separating his military tough as nails persona from a gentle loving persona at home. However, Mitchium is a doomed figure, and the movie does not leave the audience with the feeling that their life is any richer or wiser having seen it.

Sorry, Robert Duvall, this was not one of your better films. You played your role memorably, but the scripted ending was not satisfying. Sometimes, a great actor cannot rescue an otherwise flop of a film.